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CVE-2026-97248 – Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection – Booking Activities WordPress Plugin ≤ 1.18.7

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Summary

CVE-2026-97248 is a critical unauthenticated PHP Object Injection (Deserialization of Untrusted Data, CWE-502) vulnerability affecting the Booking Activities WordPress plugin, versions up to and including 1.18.7.1. The flaw allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to submit crafted serialized data that the plugin deserializes, potentially leading to arbitrary object instantiation and, depending on other code (gadget chains) present on the site, remote code execution, data theft, or full site compromise. The issue carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical).

Technical details

  • Root cause: The plugin deserializes attacker-supplied input using PHP’s unserialize functionality without adequate validation or sanitization.
  • Trigger conditions: No authentication or user interaction is required; an attacker only needs network access to a vulnerable site’s front end to submit malicious serialized input to a plugin endpoint.
  • Attack vector: Network (remote, unauthenticated HTTP requests).
  • Impact: Successful exploitation can lead to PHP Object Injection, which may be escalated to remote code execution, arbitrary file operations, or denial of service if exploitable "gadget chains" (POP chains) exist elsewhere in the WordPress installation’s plugins/themes. Even without a usable gadget chain, injected objects can trigger unintended application behavior, data manipulation, or availability impact.

Affected software

  • Booking Activities WordPress plugin: all versions up to and including 1.18.7.1
  • Fixed in version 1.18.8 and later

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.8 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Update the Booking Activities plugin to version 1.18.8 or later, where the deserialization issue has been addressed.
  • If no patch can be applied immediately:
    • Restrict or monitor access to the plugin’s public-facing endpoints via a web application firewall configured to block serialized PHP object payloads.
    • Audit the site for other installed plugins/themes that could provide exploitable gadget chains, and keep all WordPress components fully updated to reduce the chance of successful object injection escalation.
    • Consider temporarily deactivating the plugin on internet-facing sites until the update can be applied, if the plugin’s booking functionality is not business-critical.
    • Monitor server and application logs for anomalous POST requests containing serialized PHP data targeting the plugin.

References

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